k.c. to atchison (Kansas City, Independence: rental car, rental, home)

[CuriouserGeorge]

Okay, you land at Kansas City International and you want to go to Atchison, Kansas, but you don't want to rent a car. What's the best & cheapest (and should I add, convenient) alternative means of transportation? Do buses go there from KC? Trains?

[lifelongMOgal]

It does not appear that either Amtrak (train) or Greyhound (bus) service Atchison, KS. Unless you are able to arrange a ride with whomever you are meeting in Atchison you'll likely need to arrange for a taxi or rent a vehicle.

[RadioSilence]

As far as I know, there is no bus service between Kansas City and Atchison, nor between St. Joseph and Atchison. Unless you want to hitchhike, you'll need to rent a car, or have someone pick you up at the airport.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by RadioSilence

As far as I know, there is no bus service between Kansas City and Atchison, nor between St. Joseph and Atchison. Unless you want to hitchhike, you'll need to rent a car, or have someone pick you up at the airport.

By the time one takes a bus to St. Joe they've already doubled the distance to Atchison.

[RadioSilence]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

By the time one takes a bus to St. Joe they've already doubled the distance to Atchison.

I'm aware. But if the original poster doesn't want to rent a car, that leaves options at a minimum.

[CuriouserGeorge]

Thanks to all repliers. A rental car is the obvious and easiest solution, but I wasn't sure how long I would stay, or whether I'd need a vehicle once I arrived. I'm a bit surprised that there isn't more convenient access to a city as large as Atchison, though.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by CuriouserGeorge

Thanks to all repliers. A rental car is the obvious and easiest solution, but I wasn't sure how long I would stay, or whether I'd need a vehicle once I arrived. I'm a bit surprised that there isn't more convenient access to a city as large as Atchison, though.

Is that a joke? Atchison is a pretty small town! Probably only 10,000 or so people.

And I don't know what you're doing there or with whom you're staying, but I can't imagine you could get around there without a car at all.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Is that a joke? Atchison is a pretty small town! Probably only 10,000 or so people.

And I don't know what you're doing there or with whom you're staying, but I can't imagine you could get around there without a car at all.

Small towns in Kansas the size of Atchison (10,000), especially those that are similarly off main highways, are often very walkable because everything is mostly centered around the original core and downtown, which is where most of the population still lives, and the towns that size are not big enough to have been overly suburbanized. I'm not as familiar with Atchison, but where I went to high school, Independence, KS, you could walk everywhere except Walmart, the community college, and the country club, and the large employers like Cessna and Amazon.com. It looks like Atchison's even better than that. Although the Walmart is a bit out there. But then that's where cabs come into play, which are short cab rides. We're talking about a town that's been around since around the time cars were barely coming into existence, let alone mainstream, and that hasn't really grown outside it's early boundaries or population size.

But with that said, I wouldn't not rent a car to make things much easier, unless I was really hurting for money or was feeling really adventurous. Taking on a visit to a town like Atchison without a car would be a very interesting experience and provide a very unique perspective, more doable than most of us realize, and depending on your attitude, pretty rewarding.

Here is what Atchison actually looks like:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=39.561732...42272&t=h&z=15

[CuriouserGeorge]

To somewhat clarify, I was considering buying a second home in Atchison. Not a residence where I'd live full-time, but a place to come to in the spring or fall (or whenever) and just experience a slower pace of life. I've lived/went to school in Nodaway County, Missouri, back in the late 60's and was impressed with the perople from the general area (i.e., Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri). Atchison is not that far from Kansas City, or St. Joe, so it's not like being miles from nowhere. My dilemma, though, is easily getting there whenever I wanted to pop in and visit. If I only stayed a week, then a rental car is reasonable solution, but anything longer then it becomes more expensive. I'm sure a bike would do just fine for most of the jaunts I'd want to take in while there. It's just getting there in a convenient manner that is the problem. I suspect that there are plenty of towns that are larger than Atchison that don't have bus service, but this is a college town as well, so I am a bit surprised that Greyhoud or Trailways don't service it. In the late sixties, I was able to fly into the old Kansas City airport, go downtown, and take a bus all the way up to Maryville, MO.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by CuriouserGeorge

To somewhat clarify, I was considering buying a second home in Atchison. Not a residence where I'd live full-time, but a place to come to in the spring or fall (or whenever) and just experience a slower pace of life. I've lived/went to school in Nodaway County, Missouri, back in the late 60's and was impressed with the perople from the general area (i.e., Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri). Atchison is not that far from Kansas City, or St. Joe, so it's not like being miles from nowhere. My dilemma, though, is easily getting there whenever I wanted to pop in and visit. If I only stayed a week, then a rental car is reasonable solution, but anything longer then it becomes more expensive. I'm sure a bike would do just fine for most of the jaunts I'd want to take in while there. It's just getting there in a convenient manner that is the problem. I suspect that there are plenty of towns that are larger than Atchison that don't have bus service, but this is a college town as well, so I am a bit surprised that Greyhoud or Trailways don't service it. In the late sixties, I was able to fly into the old Kansas City airport, go downtown, and take a bus all the way up to Maryville, MO.

I'm pretty sure the late 60's was when transit connectiveness really fizzled out in our region. Today it's barely existant. Also, I don't know how long it's been since you've been to our region, but neither those small towns nor the old parts of the larger cities are in the condition they were at that time. Suburbanization has taken it's toll and moved most daily activity outside of town cores and to the fringes or areas otherwise unaccessible by transit or walkable. I guess my point is, it's a lot different here than in the 1960's, which I never knew personally. And I'm not familiar with Maryville, but I suspect it's a much nicer, more active town than Atchison, with a real influence from its university. Atchison isn't really a "college town", despite Benedictine being there. It's just a very historic town that's barely hanging on and very industrial. So I wouldn't expect to get the caliber of town you may remember from Maryville from other small non-college towns in this region.